Seven Days in Passing
by Masochistic Cannibal
Summary: It’s not always about the cases, about the job. Sometimes it’s about what happens when they go home, if they go home. CSI & CSI Miami Crossover. Greg&Ryan Slash.


Title: **Seven Days in Passing**  
Genre: Established Relationship  
Pairing: Greg Sanders / Ryan Wolfe  
Rating: G  
Created on: 10/28/06  
Beta(s): Shadowfax  
Summary: It's not always about the cases, about the job; Sometimes it's about what happens when they go home, if they go home.

A/N: I don't know where this came from, it really doesn't have a point. Just thought it would be interesting to see Ryan and Greg's life from inside their apartment, outside of the lab.

**Day One**

They lay together in bed, Ryan on his stomach with a leg tangled between Greg's, his arms tucked under his pillow. Greg lays on his side facing Ryan, both men sleeping heavily, a slight snore coming from Greg as his arm rests across Ryan's back.

Seven o'clock PM sets off the alarm clock, and for several passing seconds, neither men stir, the sound echoing through the apartment until Greg finally pulls himself up on one arm, his eyes closed as he reaches over Ryan to turn it off.

Ryan stirs to look at the time on the clock, groaning, and Greg tells him to go back to sleep as he drags himself out of bed and into the bathroom. Within half an hour, he's leaning over Ryan, kissing the sleeping man briefly on his face before silently closing the bedroom door, grabbing his keys from the table near the door before leaving, and then locking the door on the way out.

Ryan sleeps for another several hours before finally slitting his eyes open, finding the spot next to him empty as he checks the clock next to the bed and yawns. He's tired, too many double shifts since the transfer into Vegas, and he thinks it's going to be a while before he adjusts to the graveyard shift.

When he manages to wake himself up enough to get out of bed, he finds himself in the shower, the cool water opening his eyes completely.

The apartment is silent when he pulls on some clean clothes and walks into the kitchen, making coffee while going through his mail from the previous day, grinning when he comes across the post card from the team of CSI Miami's. It makes him miss them briefly, but he's quickly adjusting to his new coworkers, and he knows that soon he'll feel more like one of the team, part of the small family that the Vegas CSIs have created.

After writing a brief letter back to his former coworkers and checking his email, Ryan pulls on his tennis shoes to complement the sweats and t-shirt he's wearing, grabbing his keys and cell phone from the small table before leaving the apartment.

The apartment remains silent and lifeless for the better part of the day, Ryan finally returning with some bags of groceries, the CSI stopping off at the store after several hours of exercising and running other errands.

The rest of the night is spent in relative silence, the television turned low as he makes himself dinner, saving some for Greg and putting it in a plastic container before sticking it in the fridge. Their schedules are unpredictable as he's learned since becoming a CSI, even more so since moving in with and trying to have a relationship with a fellow CSI.

After rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, Ryan lays on the couch to watch the news, in the process falling asleep with one arm resting on his stomach, the other laying across his face to cover his eyes.

**Day Two**

Greg walks into the apartment and immediately kicks off his shoes, his whole body feeling heavy as he drops his keys and wallet on the table.

Upon walking into the living room, he finds the lights out but the television still on. Further inspection confirms that Ryan is sleeping soundly on the couch. He glances at his watch, finding that the younger man doesn't have to be at work for another few hours, and he leaves him be before walking into the kitchen, pulling out the food Ryan left for him before warming it up.

He reads the newspaper while eating, hearing Ryan shift around on the couch a few times. By the time Greg is rinsing off his dishes and walking back into the living room, he feels like he's going to fall asleep where he stands, the past twenty hours spreading him thin as he kneels in front of the couch, gently shaking Ryan awake.

The younger man stirs when he feels someone gently shaking him, and he finds Greg kneeling next to him, bags beginning to develop under his eyes from lack of sleep.

"It's time for you to get up."

It's only then that Ryan realizes he fell asleep on the couch, and it becomes more apparent when he sits up, his neck aching as he follows Greg into the bathroom. Both men strip down before climbing into the shower, Greg too tired to get physical as he lets Ryan clean off the dirt and grime from shift, their shower ending in a brief make out session that consists of Greg using the wall to keep himself standing on tired legs.

When they depart, Greg briefly dries off his hair before wrapping the towel around his waist, not bothering with boxers as he climbs into bed and falls asleep almost immediately. Ryan quickly dresses before giving Greg a quick kiss goodbye, locking the apartment door behind him as the apartment is left with only a slight snore to fill the silence.

A fourth of the day is slept away until Greg's pager starts to go off on the nightstand, and he feels like it's only been a few hours as he reads the 911 from the lab and grabs his cell phone.

Two cops have been shot and killed, their murderer running loose and unidentified, and all CSIs are brought in per the mayor's request. Greg quickly grabs the set of clothes he keeps set out on the dresser for these types of situations, and within no time at all, he's locking the door behind him.

**Day Three**

The apartment remains empty all day, the phone ringing occasionally and the answering machine collecting the messages left behind. Ryan's mother sounds particularly worried after hearing about the cops being shot on the news, and she reminds the younger man, I again /I , how much she dislikes the idea of him being so far away.

**Day Four**

Upon finally returning home, the last thing Ryan wants to do is talk to his mother, but he's afraid of what might happen if he doesn't respond to the handful of messages she's already left him.

Greg returns home shortly after Ryan, finding the younger man pacing the living room with a hand at the back of his neck, his eyes closed as he rubs diligently.

He's beyond tired and wants to go to bed, but he sees the stress on Ryan's face and can't help but walk over to him, startling him slightly when he wraps his arms around Ryan's waist from behind, letting his chin rest on Ryan's shoulder.

"You alright?"

"I can't see how you work this schedule, I don't know if I can get used to it."

"You thinking of changing shifts?"

A brief silence, and Greg turns Ryan around in his arms, looking in the younger man's eyes and finding uncertainty.

"What's wrong?"

"I wonder if moving out here is making everything too fast."

It's the first time Ryan has voiced any doubt about leaving Miami behind, and Greg pulls away, not sure what to think.

"You're wanting to move back?"

"I don't know, it's just a thought right now. I just need some sleep, we both do."

Ryan walks in the direction of the bedroom, but Greg doesn't follow. He remains standing silently in the living room, thinking, fearing that Ryan's going to decide to go back to Miami. The thought is painful, and after a while, he has to force himself to go into the bedroom, finding Ryan in the shower.

He doesn't disturb him, instead waiting until Ryan leaves the bathroom before going in and closing the door behind him. The action makes Ryan realize just how hurt and upset Greg might be about his thoughts of Miami. And although he doesn't want to, he keeps his distance from the bathroom, getting dressed and slipping into bed.

Greg stays in the shower longer than normal, letting the hot water cascade down his body to sooth his sore muscles. He doesn't allow himself to think about anything, simply closes his eyes and lets it all flow away with the water.

When he finally returns to the bedroom, Ryan is already asleep, and it doesn't take long for him to follow suit.

**Day Five**

They sleep longer than normal, Greg waking up hours later to find the bed empty. He briefly wonders if Ryan might have been called in, but then he realizes that I he's /I the one on call.

After finally pulling himself out of the bed, Greg makes his way to the kitchen to make some coffee, realizing along the way that Ryan's nowhere in sight. He briefly considers calling the younger man to see where he is, but quickly remembers their discussion the previous day and pushes the thought aside.

Up until the time in which he has to start getting ready for work again, Greg spends his time doing random things around the apartment. As time passes by, he finds himself getting upset with Ryan, especially since the younger man has taken off without any sort of contact.

By the time Greg has taken another shower and gotten ready for work, he's already set his mind on the fact that Ryan's leaving. He's upset, by all means, and when Ryan finally decides to re-emerge, Greg's only comment to the younger man is, "there are empty boxes folded up in the closet," before he walks out the door for work.

Ryan's caught off guard by the statement and Greg's attitude, and he stands stunned in the front hallway for several moments. He realizes that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave before Greg woke up, but he needed time to think. Before he knew it, he realized Greg would be going to work soon, and he rushed home to try and catch him before he left.

He realizes now that he shouldn't have said anything in the first place, and he curses silently, throwing his keys on the small table just inside the door before walking to the bedroom. He sits down heavily on the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do about the situation, whether or not he should really leave.

He's thought about it all day. It's not an easy decision to make, but that doesn't mean he can forget about it altogether. Greg won't let him just take back what he said; he's going to be expecting a decision.

It's starting to give Ryan a headache thinking about all of this, and he thinks that maybe sleeping on it will make things a little easier on a fresh mind, the CSI pulling himself off the edge of the bed to strip down to his boxers. Almost immediately when he crawls into the bed, the day catches up with him, and he falls asleep, the apartment falling silent.

**Day Six**

Greg returns home from a long shift, kicking his shoes off at the door and leaving his keys in his jacket as he hangs it up. He looks beyond tired as he shuffles his way into the living room, stopping at the sight of the boxes sitting on the floor in a perfect row, Ryan sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

Almost immediately upon seeing Greg, Ryan stands up and walks over to the older man, reaching his hand out to touch the bruise encircling one of Greg's eyes. It's only one of the many bruises covering Greg's face and body, accompanied by a split lip.

"What happened?"

Greg doesn't even let his attention be drawn to Ryan, instead keeping his focus on the packing boxes sitting on the floor.

"I can't deal with this right now."

He pulls away from Ryan and leaves the younger man standing worried in the living room as he walks into the bedroom and closes the door behind him.

As if the beating he took from a suspect earlier in the day wasn't enough, the emotional beating Ryan's giving him is making him feel defeated, ready to just give up.

He doesn't even bother changing out of his clothes before he decides to climb under the covers, ready to sleep the next three days away, hoping that Ryan will be finished packing by the time he finally wakes up.

**Day Seven**

He feels pressure being put against his split lip, cold pressure, and he slowly slits his eyes open to see Ryan laying next to him, the two men facing each other as Ryan holds an ice pack to Greg's face.

Greg wants to push him out of bed, and yet he finds himself moving closer to Ryan, pushing the ice pack away from his face so he can get closer to the younger man.

"I'm sorry about everything. I talked to Grissom; he told me what happened with your suspect."

Greg shakes his head. He doesn't want to talk about it. It's one of those days he wants to forget about, and he plans on doing just that with the days off Grissom gave him. Three days off doesn't sound like much, but in the world of double and triple shifts, it feels like weeks.

Unfortunately, getting days off from work only means he'll be having to deal with the Ryan situation now, and seeing as how he has his face buried in the younger man's chest right now, it's obvious that he doesn't want Ryan to go.

"You plan on staying like that forever?"

Ryan's voice is quiet and playful, a small laugh leaving his lips when Greg nods his head into his chest.

"Greg, come on."

He forces his partner away from his chest, seeing the pain etched on the older man's face as he does so. He tries to return the ice pack back to Greg's face, but the older man pushes it away, finally moving away from Ryan so there's at least a foot between them.

A look of sadness blankets his features, and Ryan stares silently at him, wishing he doesn't have to see that look on Greg's face.

"So when are you leaving?"

Ryan thinks he hears a bit of anger in the question, and he looks away for a brief moment before sitting up, placing the ice pack on the nightstand.

"Ryan-"

"I don't know. When do you want me gone?"

He doesn't look at Greg when he asks, keeps his eyes averted as he feels the bed shift from Greg sitting up alongside of him.

"I never told you to leave, don't turn this around on me. This is your decision, not mine."

If this relationship had any meaning behind it, he knows that Ryan would say it's a joint decision; it affects both of their lives. Ryan doesn't say that, though, only stands up and grabs Greg's hand, pulling the older man along until they reach the living room, where Greg sees the boxes sitting on top of each other.

"So if I wanted to stay…"

He leaves the comment open ended as Greg starts to look around the living room, noticing a change. At first, he doesn't recognize it, but then he sees the added pictures to the walls and shelves, the stack of CDs sitting next to his own in alphabetical order. It's stuff he hasn't seen before, but it doesn't take much for him to realize where it came from as he turns back to Ryan.

"I figure if we're really going to be living together, I might as well unpack everything and make it feel more like our home."

At first, Greg doesn't say anything, but slowly, a smile cracks across his face, gradually getting bigger until he's laughing. It perplexes Ryan, and he raises his eyebrows, wondering what's so funny.

"Greg-"

"Sorry, you just really had me convinced that you were wanting to leave."

Ryan watches Greg trying to control himself before he himself starts to smile a little. In all reality, he really was considering moving back to Miami, but he decides to just let Greg believe otherwise, figuring it would just make his life more simple in the long run.


End file.
